Danny has been keeping us posted on a big 10-pointer roaming his hunting land. The latest:
“Got over 500 pictures of deer this week on 2 cameras. The deer were very active. I got several more pics of the big 10. My wife decided to name him Spike. She thinks it’s funny for some reason.
Ole’ Spike decided to make some daylight appearances. Hopefully he keeps that up. Sept 6th is our bow opener. Only 3 weeks!
On a side note, I’m starting to notice a trend with my pictures. I’m actually getting more evening and morning pics the closer it gets to the full moon. And during the new moon I’m getting mostly night time pictures. This is the exact opposite of what I expected. Maybe it has more to do with the moon rise and set times than it does with the phase of the moon?”
Danny has hit on something I’ve been analyzing for a while now. And yes, it is the exact opposite of what many hunters believe.
For years I have been convinced, from my field observations, that bucks move more in daylight during the full moon in November rut. But now there’s growing evidence they are more active during the full moon in the late summer/early fall months too.
Just last summer I texted my friend Mark Drury to see what kind of pictures he was getting on his Iowa farm. He shot back: “not seeing much yet, but with the full moon coming on should see some monsters soon.” Two weeks later the moon went full in September, and Mark sent me images of three 160-class shooters that showed up on his cams.
And there is new science to support this. A recent moon study at NC State University found that during a full moon, deer move more during the middle of the day and earlier in the afternoon than during the other phases—which seems to support Danny’s recent observations.
There should be another surge of deer (and some big bucks) showing up on cameras as the next moon goes full September 19. If you’re running cams, note the dates and times and let us know if it happens in your area.
i have the majority of my buck pics all on full moon / daylight photos. June -July- Aug, full moons.
Cool blog today. Hey Danny, you got any straight on shots of that beast? Would love to see what he looks like facing the camera.
Side Note: I’ve had issues with not getting bucks on my cams this summer. The neighbors are putting in a wetland and heavy machinery has been present for the last several weeks. Not sure if this might have something to do with it, or not. Any rate one of the workers told me about a big one he saw (hoping it’s my No. 1 buck “One Side”, but don’t know). I took his tip and moved my camera to a brand new spot. Hoping for the best>
If you click on the link Mike has highlighted “Big 10-pointer”, then click on the link on the next page , it will take you to one of the only straight on pics I got of him. The straight on pic is from July 2nd, so he didn’t have a lot of tine length yet.
Good luck with the camera in the new spot. I’ve been moving mine around lately and the big 10 has been showing up at a couple different places. Now, I have to try and figure out which tree to sit on opening day. Most likely the wind will decide for me.
Yeah, I saw that initial picture. I was just hoping to see a straight on shot to better judge its score. Whatever it measures, it’s a stud and I hope you get an arrow/bullet in that dude. Good luck.
I just went through all my pictures. I only have 2 pictures of him straight on with his ears out. He has about 1″-1 1/2″ clearance from the outside of his ears, to the inside of his rack. Maybe its an optical allusion, but the taller his tines have gotten, the narrower he looks.